Exercise your way out of addiction

Hi fellow Fapstronauts,

from my own empirical experience, I managed to stay in "hard mode" only when I was exercising for 1-3 hours daily (running, cycling, weightlifting). when I stopped with regular exercise after 165 days my mind started to play tricks with me and I relapsed 15 days later.

It is well known fact that depression, stress and anxiety are huge triggers for people with addiction and compulsive behavior problems. Exercise is a way to curb all of these triggers, which just reiterates the importance of physical activity on a regular basis.

There are some studies confirming exercise as possible cure for addictions. They are talking about substance abuses, but mechanism behind is basically the same:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4199732/
https://www.futurity.org/aerobic-exercise-addiction-1768932-2/

Maybe exercise should become our second nature, like brushing our teeth in the evening. I've tried everything in last decade of my struggle and nothing worked so effectively to eliminate cravings as aerobic exercise did. Do you think we should seriously consider becoming "exercise junkies" (triathlon comes to my mind as a perfect choice for us addicts), to find our way out of addiction? What are your thoughts on the subject?

PS: Conclusion of meta study by ncbi:
The current meta-analysis provides strong evidence that physical exercise can be an effective adjunct treatment method for abstinence from alcohol, nicotine, and illicit drugs in abusers. Physical exercise not only increases the abstinence rate in subjects with SUD, but also eases withdrawal symptoms, anxiety, and depression symptoms. The treatment effects of physical exercise in these four aspects verify that physical exercise guidance by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) [12] is an effective means for drug abstinence. Additionally, mind-body exercises (including Tai Chi Quan, Qigong, and Yoga) have similar treatment effects as to aerobic exercise. Although physical exercise has been proven effective in facilitating drug abstinence, its effects on alcohol, nicotine and illicit drug abusers are different. From the results of the meta-analysis, the effects of physical exercise on illicit drugs abusers are significantly greater compared to the others. Given the limitation of materials, these issues require further investigation.